The NBA welcomes a Kushner

The Grizzlies and their controversial new minority owner

J. Cole, Chris Tucker, Destin Christopher Tucker, Joshua Kushner, Karlie Kloss, Beena Patel, and Hasan Minhaj at last month’s All-Star Game in Charlotte. (Kevin Mazur/WireImage/Getty)

By Henry Abbott

Jared Kushner’s brother, Joshua, has purchased less than five percent of the Memphis Grizzlies, the NBA and the Grizzlies confirmed.

To be precise, the way a Grizzlies spokesperson phrased it: “Brandon Arrindell and Joshua Kushner recently, in their respective individual capacities, purchased minority stakes in the Grizzlies.”

It’s a piece of news that touches off some controversy, and not because of Arrindell. (He happens to have gone to Harvard with Joshua and is a Memphis-based investment advisor who works for another Grizzlies owner, G. Staley Cates, at Southeastern Asset Management.)

A quiet transaction
Sources say many a meeting that led to this transaction began with reminders to keep the dealings private. Until it was in the Commercial Appeal on Friday, even key Grizzlies executives di…